Chapter 277 Bao Tian

The arrival of Xia Lian and others made the crisis-ridden situation take a sharp turn for the worse without any suspense - two of the seven people who broke into Yizhitang died, and the others were all captured alive.

Yan Chaoqing's expression could freeze someone to death.

After he confirmed that Dou Zhao was safe and sound, he immediately asked Dou Zhao to borrow his firewood room: "…something is strange, and I am afraid that something bad may happen if we delay. Please allow me to interrogate the thief immediately."

Dou Zhao also thought it would be better to end the battle quickly, so he asked Lu Yijia to take Mr. Yan, Xia Lian and others to the woodshed, while he instructed the maids to clean up the courtyard.

A few screams came from the woodshed, and then there was no sound as if they were blocked by something.

Lu Yijia came out from the corner leading to the small kitchen, his face pale and full of fear.

Dou Zhao was secretly shocked and whispered to Su Xin: "If someone dies, who will dare to work at the stove in the future?"

Su Xin said, "Then I'll go and remind Mr. Yan!"

Dou Zhao nodded.

A maid came in and said, "Madam, Steward Lu is here."

The people in the Duke of Ying's Mansion also saw the fire in Yizhi Hall, but to them, the fire in the outer courtyard was far more important than Yizhi Hall. So Tao Qi was not important. When Lu Zheng, who was ordered to preside over the affairs of the Duke of Ying's Mansion, saw the guards of Yizhi Hall abandon the half-demolished chamber and rush to Yizhi Hall, he thought about it and decided to come to see the situation and express his condolences.

Dou Zhao just wanted to know whether the Duke of Ying's Mansion had anything to do with this matter.

She met Lu Zheng in the main hall.

Lu Zheng, who only brought two servants with him, first saw two unfamiliar corpses in the corridor in front of Yizhi Hall, and then saw a pile of firewood soaked in water in the main courtyard... Lu Zheng was a smart man, otherwise he would not have become Song Yichun's confidant - he soon realized that someone took advantage of the chaos to attack Yizhi Hall, and Dou Zhao and others had to defend it while setting fire to warn others.

I just don't know who came up with this idea?

Not only smart, but also quick-witted.

However, where did these thieves come from? How did they get into Yizhitang? Were there any thieves working with them from the inside? Did Yizhitang catch all of them? If only a few of them were caught, where are the others now?

When he thought of this, Lu Zheng felt a chill in his vest.

With such a big thing happening at home, the prince will definitely come back soon.

If the Crown Prince suspects that this matter is related to the Duke and gets angry, who dares to stop the Crown Prince when the Duke is not at home? And who can stop the Crown Prince?

The front of Lu is like the bottom of a pot.

But he had already entered Yizhi Hall, so he had to pretend that he knew nothing and asked Dou Zhao in surprise, "Madam, what happened?"

I wanted to ask you what happened, but you asked me instead!

Dou Zhao complained in her heart while telling Lu Zheng what had happened. As for who came up with the idea of ​​setting the fire and calling the police, and scalding the thief with boiling water, she just glossed over it and didn't elaborate.

Lu Zheng was sweating profusely after hearing this. He knelt down in front of Dou Zhao with a thump and said anxiously, "Madam, I really didn't expect such a mess to happen. It's all our fault! We were so focused on putting out the fire that we let the thieves sneak in. I just don't know what Mr. Yan got out of those thieves' mouths? Did he tell us how many people there were in total? I'm afraid that there are still thieves hiding in the dark, who will hurt people when we let our guard down..."

These thieves obviously came in through the British Duke's Mansion. Tao Qizhong is not here, so this responsibility can only be borne by him as the manager for the time being.

Dou Zhao saw that although he looked surprised, there was a hint of fear in his eyes. He became more suspicious and his tone became gentler: "There is no news from Mr. Yan yet. I'm afraid I'll have to trouble Mr. Tao and Manager Lu for matters in the mansion."

Since Lu Zheng said so, regardless of whether this matter is related to Song Yichun or not, let them worry about things outside of Yizhitang.

As the two were talking, the pottery that had been borrowed from the Wucheng Bingmasi to help put out the fire came back. Hearing that a fire had broken out inexplicably in Yizhitang, Mr. Yan and others all rushed to Yizhitang. The east group of rooms also caught fire. The maids living in the east group of rooms were worried about their children and property in their own rooms, so they had no time to put out the fire. From time to time, someone sneaked back home to settle their children and pack up their property, so that the Duke of Ying's Mansion was in chaos. His face changed drastically, and he hurriedly gave a few instructions to the deputy commander who came to help, and then went to Yizhitang with his entourage.

Everyone knows that the Duke and the Crown Prince don't get along. If anything happens to the Crown Prince's wife when the Crown Prince is not at home, I'm afraid everyone will suspect that the Duke is involved. Although the Duke doesn't like the Crown Prince, he won't do something that will obviously make him criticized. If that happens, they will be covered in mud and shit.

On the way, a confidant who stayed in the mansion told Tao Qizhong about Yizhitang's affairs.

Tao Qizhong secretly groaned.

When they arrived at Yizhi Hall, Yan Chaoqing also came to see Dou Zhao. Dou Zhao grabbed Yan Chaoqing as if he had grabbed a life-saving straw: "Brother Yan, Brother Yan, what is going on?"

Yan Chaoqing walked towards the main room without stopping, saying, "I'm just about to report to my wife. You can come and listen too!"

There was a click in Taoqi's center of gravity, his face turned slightly blue, and he followed Yan Chaoqing into the hall.

"Madam, they are a group of bandits from Cangzhou. They couldn't stay there any longer, so they came to Kyoto to hide." The development of the situation was beyond Yan Chaoqing's expectations. "They saw that there was a whole box of silver bills in your dowry when you got married, so they set their eyes on your wedding dowry, colluded with a few idle gangs in Kyoto, and spent money to hire two vagrants to plan a prison robbery and a fire in the stable..."

Dou Zhao was speechless.

Lu Zheng heaved a sigh of relief.

Since the trouble was caused by the Crown Prince's wife's dowry, it finally has nothing to do with them now, right?

But just as he was about to say this, he heard Yan Chaoqing say, "According to their account, a total of 26 people sneaked in this time. Now we have only found seven of them, and the whereabouts of the others are unknown. I'm afraid Mr. Tao will have to make a decision on this matter. What should we do?"

Pottery is good and you won't regret it.

If I had known this would happen, I should have listened to Yan Chaoqing, sacrificed the soldiers to save the commander, and directly demolished two of the rooms in the east group of houses to prevent the spread of the fire... The stable was burned, so I just built a new one. Now, a thief broke in, and the responsibility is all on him! Not to mention that 19 people are missing...

He felt like an ant on a hot pot.

"Fortunately, the Wucheng Military Division sent a division of the Dongcheng Military Division over here," he said, his face gloomy, "I will arrange for some people to catch the thieves." Thinking of the guards of Yizhitang who were highly skilled, careful, and prudent, he could not help but say, "We can't just let those Dongcheng Military Division people mess around at home. Please, Mr. Yan, lend me a few people to help accompany the Dongcheng Military Division people."

"No!" Yan Chaoqing flatly refused. "Until those thieves are found, all guards of Yizhitang must stay in Yizhitang to protect the safety of Madam."

Tao Qi opened his mouth again, but in the end said nothing, and walked away dejectedly with Lu Zheng.

Yan Chaoqing knew that this matter could be used to make an article.

He thought of Dou Zhao's courage in killing Song Mo and her lack of self-control in the face of danger, and explained to Dou Zhao tactfully, "Madam's safety is the first priority. The Duke of Ying's Mansion is too big. If I hide something, it would be too dangerous if there are thieves who have escaped and are hiding in the inner courtyard!"

Yan Chaoqing's words gave Dou Zhao an idea. She smiled and said, "In the past, those thieves killed the guards of the Duke of Ying's Mansion, but no one believed it and insisted that it was the prince who killed them. Now, thieves are besieging Yizhi Hall again... This is such a coincidence!"

Her words made Yan Chaoqing's eyes light up, and he said, "I'll do it right away!"

Dou Zhao smiled and said, "Thank you, Mr. Lao."

Yan Chaoqing saluted respectfully and retreated.

Xia Lian, who was waiting outside, asked hurriedly, "What did the Madam say?"

Looking at the two thieves whose faces were almost burned but who were captured alive by them very easily, he felt that Dou Zhao was the heroine mentioned in the opera and admired her very much.

When Yan Chaoqing told him Dou Zhao's intention, Xia Lian couldn't help but give him a thumbs up and sighed, "The prince has really become even more powerful after marrying my wife!"

Yan Chaoqing smiled and nodded, agreeing with Xia Lian's words.

The two of them stood under the eaves and discussed the defense of Yizhitang in the next few days.

Song Han came in with two servants.

"I heard that my sister-in-law had a fire. Is she okay?" He looked anxious. "I rushed over as soon as I heard the news."

Yan Chaoqing and Xia Lian hurriedly bowed to Song Han, while the maid went to report to Dou Zhao.

Dou Zhaoying came out and asked, "Why did the Second Master come here at this time?" She scolded Song Han's servant, "Don't you know that a thief has broken into the house? There are still nineteen people missing. If the Second Master gets into trouble, I will skin you alive!"

The servant boy was so frightened that his face turned pale and he knelt on the ground trembling.

Song Han was also frightened by Dou Zhao's words. He pulled Xia Lian's sleeve and said, "Xia Huwei, is this true?"

Xia Lian said hurriedly, "It's true. There are still people who haven't been found." His voice was very gentle, "Second Master shouldn't have come to Yizhitang at this time."

Song Han was suddenly at a loss.

Dou Zhao hurriedly ordered Xia Lian: "Send the Second Master back to the Upper House."

Xia Lian responded respectfully and accompanied Song Han out of Yizhi Hall.

Dou Zhao stared at Song Han's back until he disappeared from his sight, then he returned to the inner room and called Gan Lu: "With such a big fire, I don't think anyone in the house can sleep. Go and ask the eldest wife and grandmother to come over, and tell them that I have something to say." He also whispered a few words to Su Xin.

Ganlu invited the first wife and Mrs. Tan to come over.

The two of them looked at the heavily guarded Yizhi Hall and breathed a sigh of relief. The eldest wife even cried and said, "Where did this thief come from? He didn't even open his eyes to see where this place is. He is really crazy about money..."

Dou Zhao held the teacup and drank tea leisurely, letting the eldest wife vent her temper.

Her calm expression inexplicably frightened Tan. She secretly pulled the first wife's clothes, reminding her that Dou Zhao was not interested and asked her to say less.